i'm kinda referring to things like that quote from the pfork EM review where the writer says something like "five simultaneous melodies going on at once" ... uh, no. there's not five melodies going on at once, there's usually one melody with lots of pitchbending and fx (not much more intricate than a typical modern acid house track) and one bassline and some random embellishments (definitely not intricate compared to the DSP fuckery in most idm tracks)

ha i was obsessed with that stuff when i was a teenager, but you have to admit that they have the worst rep out of all the big fusion bands (for the usual jazz crimes - cheesy/overblown/soulless etc.).

I kind of hear what Matt DC is saying about it not really being dance music - not that you 'can't' dance to it, but a lot of the songs never get going quite enough or sustain a beat long enough. I could see it lending itself really well to dance remixes/edits that wouldn't have to do a whole lot.

really? it's got some fusion signifiers, but to my ears the forms/structures are very exacting and dance-based (and the most fun moments are when he's playing with listener expectations on the builds/drops).

I don't really mean it sounds like fusion, just that it reminds of what a lot of instrumental and fusion bands were doing in the 70s, making records of essentially "dance" music, but that were never really the same kind of dance music as, say, giorgio moroder or chic. Even tho really, if you listen to it, formwise, it's not arguably a different thing. See also a lot of instrumental hip-hop, post-dubstep stuff like zomby, or even squarepusher (who really does play the fusion card).

hudson mohawke seems to actively court dance/hip-hop appeal tho. Like, he makes tracks, and with tnght, that sound like their primary purpose is to woo a rapper to use them for production, and to make festival crowds jump up and down. Whereas rustie to my ears sounds too "impressive" in a muso way. It sounds amazing when I hear it at home, but maybe too busy in too short a time to work as "dance" music, as was suggested upthread. A fine line tho!